Hello Everyone, I recently ordered a bunch of the 2, 3 and 4 wire 22awg wrapped so I could run all my printers wiring through the drag chain I also ordered to clean things up. Does anyone know what wire gauge I would need for say my Slice Engineering 50W heater cartridge? Would the wrapped 18 gauge power supply wire on here be sufficient? It is important to note my build is 24V. Also, I am upgrading my heatbed shortly to a 1000W Keenovo 410 x 410 using an SSR. Now because I am in the USA I would be using 12V I believe as I hookup the ssr to the main of my Powersupply that takes the walls 12v output. What gauage wiring would this require? Can the 18 gauage wrapped wire on here also be used or do I need a lower gauge? Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read and reply to this thread -Brandon
Cable gauges relate to current-carrying capacity, and ratings are modified depending on how long the run is and how they're jacketed and routed. There are some fairly standard ones like 12ga = 20A, 10ga = 30A, etc but if you're not running an extension cable, building a power cord, or running household wiring in open air, it's worth checking to see how things may change. 1000W at 12V would be in the vicinity of 90A, probably needing 1/0 cable or thereabouts! Do you mean 120V ("the wall's output")? I think 16ga would probably do it, but I'd personally run 14ga (standard "white Romex" size for 15A outlets) to have a safety factor and allow for some tight routing. Probably needs to be silicone wire to allow movement and take heat. Look up wire gauge calculators, there are a ton out there, and usually do slightly different things depending on the site that they're on. Try to find one that matches- or lets you select- the type of wiring you're using, and clearly states whether the "run length" is one-way or both-ways (because the actual circuit is technically double the length of the cable, of course- the electrons have to come back again too!).
Your response was very humbling. I have a lot of research to do . I am a bit more of a noob than I thought. Thank you for the thorough response and giving me some context to work with. I really appreciate it. -brandon
Also checkout American Wire Gauge Chart and AWG Electrical Current Load Limits table with ampacities, wire sizes, skin depth frequencies and wire breaking strength
90A at 12V DC with a 10% voltage drop would be 10G stranded. My guess however, is that the heating bed would be powered by mains and controlled by a relay.. a DC PSU that can put out that kind of current, they are generally stupid expensive when compared to what we are using in the hobby realm. to the OP, a good place to look are boat builder resources for DC wiring information. Boats tend to use DC power.
